Sprained
by RisingWillow08
Summary: When stealing from a princess visiting the Isle with King Ben, Mal injures herself. How will she react? Disclaimer: I don't own Descendants (Books or movies). Rated for minor injury.


Mal ran swiftly away from her pursuers, her catch of the day held tightly in a bag. A beautiful gold-and-diamond necklace, with matching wristwatch. By far the fanciest thing on the island. She'd stolen it from some idiotic princess who came with the king to look at the Isle. The princess had quickly noticed and sent guards after Mal. Now, Mal was hurrying away from the same guards.

She reached the end of the alleyway, and glanced up to see Evie, holding out her hand to catch the bag. Evie had an identical sack in her hand, that she had put a broken watch and a rusty necklace in. Mal threw her bag up just as Evie threw hers down, making it seem as if Mal had just tossed the bag and caught it again. It was simply a precaution in case Mal somehow got caught. Better safe than sorry. Mal nodded to Evie, who pushed a button and a ladder dropped down for Mal. As Mal grabbed it, Evie started to pull the ladder up. But just before it got out of reach, the guards grabbed on as well. Evie had already pulled it mostly back up, so Mal just finished the climb and they ran away from the guards together, Evie in the front and Mal in the back.

Evie had hidden her sack in a hidden spot behind a loose brick that Mal had found earlier that month. Now they just had to shake off the guards so they could swing back to grab the real watch and necklace.

Evie and Mal hopped over a short wall, and so did all but one of the guards. The one who tripped quickly got his up again and continued to follow, even if he was limping a bit.

The girls then quickly jumped off the ramp, down into a new alley. The guards followed, but by the time they had gotten down, the girls had disappeared. The girls' pursuers split up, following each of the three exits. Mal and Evie knew they were running out of spots to shake off their chasers, which made them slightly nervous. They continued twisting and turning, until they had only two guards following. This alley had been sloping upwards for quite a while, and now that they were at the top, it ended abruptly in a long fall. Mal and Evie jumped without hesitation, 'accidentally' dropping the sack in the alley where they had just been. The reason for their jump was simple: the fall wasn't actually that long. Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos had just made it look long by painting a very large piece of paper so it appeared from above as if the girls had just jumped to their dooms, where in fact they had fallen about seven feet, landing on the wooden floor of the paper.

Mal landed badly, however, making her twist her ankle. Evie saw this happen and quickly helped Mal up. The two of them, along with Jay and Carlos, had been friends for a long time, despite it being against Isle rules, so they helped each other, unless they were in the field of view of other people. But here was safe. It was a secret hideout for the four of them, created by Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos. Here was where they got away from trouble, kept their stash of important stuff whenever they were in trouble with their parents and had to "steal something good, or else."

Evie helped Mal sit on the couch, then carefully took of the purple-haired girl's boot to see her ankle. After she rolled down the sock, she could see it was definitely sprained, the ankle bruised and slightly swelled up. "Well, Maleficent won't like that," Evie commented, earning herself a sad chuckle from Mal. "I think she'll love it, actually. Seeing me in pain from just walking. She'll probably still make me steal every day, too. Which sucks, because I won't be able to walk for a bit, right? That's what that medical book you found said?" Evie nodded.

"I don't really remember how to treat a sprain, though. Let me check the book. I'll be right back, Mal," Evie said as she disappeared into the room that the four used as a makeshift library, since the one at Dragon Hall was forbidden. Which didn't make much sense to anyone, because what's the point of a library in a school if no one is allowed inside?

Evie came back in after a few minutes with the book in hand, which she set on a table they'd found and had set in front of the couch. "It says here that you just put ice on it, rest, and keep it off the ground for a while and it heals," Evie reported.

Mal nodded. "Seems reasonable, but, uh… How do I keep it off the ground, rest, and have ice on it without my mother noticing anything wrong? Also, for how long?"

Evie consulted the book. The bluenette flipped through the pages. "This book says it takes anywhere from five days to two weeks, which is a pretty big gap… As for how you hide it, all I can think of is _hide_."

Mal looked at Evie in confusion. "Hide? Where? And how do I hide without my mother noticing?" Evie shrugged. "You could hide here, and when you're fully healed you could come back with some of the stuff here. Which reminds me," Evie added. "I need to go get that bag before someone else finds it. I'll try to find some ice, too."

Mal nodded. "It's not like I'll be going anywhere." Evie nodded, then took off, hoping no one had found the necklace and watch.

It took a bit for the bluenette to get to the spot, as she had to avoid any of the guards seeing her. They were bound to have noticed the fakes by now, but even if they hadn't, Evie didn't want to be seen.

When she arrived, she saw that the brick hadn't moved, which gave her hope. Evie glanced around, and seeing no one, pulled the brick back and grabbed the sack she found there. She then took a detour to the market to see if she could find an ice pack for Mal.

Mal waited patiently for her friend to return. She tensed when the door opened, knowing that Evie surely couldn't have been back so soon, only a few minutes after she left. Was it the guards, come down to investigate if they had died from the fall? Her mother, finally hearing about the secret hideaway? The owners of all the things they had stolen and hidden—

"Hey, Mal! Evie! You in here?"

It was just Jay and Carlos, come back from a heist. Mal relaxed. "I'm in the main room!" She called. "Evie's out grabbing our catch and looking for ice."

"Why does Evie need ice—" Carlos stopped mid-sentence, seeing Mal's ankle. "Oh. Uh, did that happen on the fall…?" He asked.

"Yeah, I landed wrong. But it's fine, I've suffered worse," Mal answered.

They waited a bit for Evie to return, which took about half an hour. She came in hurriedly, shoving an ice pack in Mal's face. "Here, it's starting to warm up, so."

Mal nodded, putting it on her ankle. "You know… It's kind of sad, but… This is probably the safest I've ever felt. Not having to see my mother for another five days, at least. Staying only with friends," Mal said quietly. She realized she'd said friends, and covered her mouth. On the Isle, they weren't allowed to have _friends_. They were villains.

But, if she were being honest, she didn't feel bad calling them friends. And she _was _very glad to not have to deal with her mother for a while.

So, she didn't get off that couch for eight days straight.

And it was truly the best eight days of her life.


End file.
